merry christmas to all

Just dropping in briefly to say Happy Holidays! Hope everyone had/is having a great season.

it was the best of times, it was the busiest of times

That's the best way I can put it. My December to-do&make list stretches off far into the horizon, but dang, it sure does feel good, even if I have been hitting my pillow after midnight the past few days.

These thoughts have been keeping me happy lately: new shipment for Lola, compliments from One, (see links) and getting our Christmas tree this weekend. Have you realized that the big day is almost only 2 weeks away? I haven't! There is no sign of Christmas in my home yet, as opposed to last year, when I started counting down the days in July.

Well, as least there is some Christmas cheer in my studio. I made this ornament for hanging on doorknobs, but I'm sure you can use it in a multitude of ways.

Keep well, friends.

tree ornaments

As promised....

In the shop now!

i've been blogged...again

w00t w00t! The lovely Patricia of Crafty Synergy contacted me for an interview. Check out her blog! It bee-utiful!

Also...photos of finished felted ornaments coming soon! I'm waiting for the sun to come out before I start snapping. I have a feeling I'll be waiting until next year.

holiday thinking

*knock knock*
me: who's there?
"It's December. Open up!"

Where oh where did November go? I know there was my birthday somewhere in the beginning, and a heavy snowfall somewhere in the end, but other that, it felt like a blur. Come next week, the streets and storefronts will be lit with twinkling lights, carols and Christmas hits will be played from the outdoor speakers, and Sinterklaas will give way to good ol' Saint Nick. It's the most wonderful time of the year, and I fully agree. There's something about Christmas that I love so, that I really don't mind standing in those long lines at the casher, or even the bombardment of toy commercials on t.v.
But getting to the point. This year I'll be offering a trio of matching felted Christmas ornaments. I don't want to give away too much, but I will say this; red, lines, and nostalgia. I've set December 5th as my deadline, so check the store or this blog then!

gathered

A little fall bling....

........in the shop

lola

Some wonderful news friends. I've been approached by a beautiful store (name title above) who wants to carry a couple of my felted items. Eeep! I just finished my order for her, and my little tree folk family with some baby acorns will be on their way to Berkeley California tomorrow.

Someone pinch me!

Lola
2950 College Avenue
Berkeley CA 94705
www.lolahome.com

embrace white

I've been feeling like I've lost my online mojo lately. Haven't been posting to Flickr, haven't been updating this blog, and although I've been felting, it feels like ages since I posted something new to Etsy.

Ever since I finished the last scarf, I've been wanting to try nunofelting on the cotton gauze fabric I purchased. This is the result of Friday's work. It's a neutral, light and translucent piece, and something I wouldn't mind hanging in my own closet. Find it here.

night sketching

A new linocut in the making.

wildflowers

Newest felt brooches. Added them to the shop just minutes ago.

acorns

embrace gray

The newest piece. Finished Friday, in the shop today. I had every intention of taking a few snaps during the felting process, but once my hands got wet, well you know how it goes. It's a very light but warm scarf, with irregular shaped holes which were created for depth. Creating larger pieces like these can be a bit daunting at times. Careful planning is always the first step, but inevitably, holding your breath and diving headfirst always seems to have a surprising way of working out as well.

apple picking and apple baking

I love apples. A lot. If I go to a restaurant and there's an apple dessert, I'll order it. If I'm ever stranded on a desert isle and I'm allowed one thing, it'll be an apple. Okay, well maybe that's a bit far-fetched, but I'm trying to make a point. I love apples. So when we got the opportunity to go apple picking here in Holland, I jumped at it. It wasn't my first time though. Pick-your-own fruit farms and orchards in Ontario (Canada) is abundant, and I've attended my share of family fruit-picking outings. Apples, cherries, strawberries at least twice, and blueberries just off the top of my head. I guess maybe that's why I adore Autumn so.

Apple-lovers, this one's for you.

This recipe is for apple pie, but I've used the recipe to create an apple crostata and apple turnover.

Apple Pie adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Pate Brisee;

- 2 ½ cups flour

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 225 grams cold butter, cut into cubes

- ½ cup ice water

Apple Filling;

- 5 apples, cored, peeled, quartered and sliced

- ¾ cup sugar (or more if your apples are on the tart side)
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- pinch of nutmeg

- Combine flour, salt and sugar, and add butter. Mix with fork until it resembles coarse meal. Add the water until the mixture just starts to hold together. When it stays together when squeezed, it's fine.

- Shape the dough into two discs, cover with clingwrap and refridgerate for at least one hour.

- Mix all the ingredients for the filling together.

- Roll out the dough between two sheets of clingwrap. I find that this method works the best for me, and it also makes transferring the dough to the pan a breeze. Remove the top sheet of the plasticwrap, lift the dough by sliding your hand on the underside, and flip over onto your baking dish. Then remove the other piece of clingwrap. Easy peasy!

- Spoon in the apple filling, and cover with the second piece of pie crust.

- Pinch the edges or use a fork, and cut slits in the top to let the steam escape. Another option is to slice the dough into strips and make a lattice cover.

- Brush with an egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar. (I unfortunately found that all my eggs were finished when I needed to do the eggwash. I speak from experience, don't forget this part. It makes the crust shiny, golden, and ooh-aah worthy.)

- Bake in a 175C preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until golden.

to do

To do list Sept. 28th:

1. Update blog
2. Add scarf to Etsy
3. Sew pillow cushions
4. Drink copious amounts of tea and soup to chase away this oncoming flu

Well, hello again! I've got three little tidbits of posts here for you today. The first being a couple snaps of our France trip. It was incredibly beautiful and incredibly inspiring. New sights, new sounds, new tastes. What can I say? I'm officially in love. On to the pictures!

Quick snap while driving through Lyon.

Sharp shadows of a palm.


Little shell found on the beach.


Deliciously sweet chanterais melon bought at a roadside market.

back

Hello Lovelies,

Can you believe Fall is here!? Our trip to France was sublime, and I'm fully accustomed to the little chill in the air we returned to. I won't rub it in, but we had soaring temperatures of 25-30C everyday.
What do you think about the new banner? Yesterday was spent apple picking, and apple pie baking (recipe soon to come) and I was just so inspired by all that Autumn has to offer, I thought I'd spruce up the place with a new header. Delicious, isn't it?

white

An unconventional source of inspiration, to say the least. I've been finding myself drawn to white lately. The white of beautifully textured canvas paper. The white of rough unglazed ceramic beads. The white of a bare wall, waiting to be decorated with a new piece of art. On my desk are pieces of a white bag which are waiting to be sewn together.


But it'll have to wait. We leave for France in two days, for a short but greatly anticipated holiday. 10 days at the beach with nothing to do but talk, sip wine, read, pick up seashells, and hopefully, if the water's still warm, take a dip or two.

Take care friends. See you when I get back.

winding down

Summer may be coming to an end but my spirits are high. Next week we leave for France. Just a short holiday with me and my mister, back to one of the very first places we vacationed together; Sérignan Plage. I can't wait.

And I won't lie to you. I'm anxiously waiting for fall's return. It brings out the best in me. It's when I'm most productive. I love nothing more than to seal myself in my studio, working late, music in the background, and preferably a thick slice of home-baked apple pie close at hand.

Autumn, I can't wait for you either.

A new item just recently added in Etsy. I'm channelling apples with that red.

peacock

I've just completed one of the two larger pieces I was telling you about yesterday. This is a table centerpiece which has been wetfelted and then needlefelted. It was a tricky one to do simply because I found the soapy water would cool down too rapidly before I even got a chance to start felting. And if you're not careful (and quick,) you'd easily be left with a soggy mess. I'm quite pleased with the result though. I guess all that hair-pulling did have a positive effect.

What do you think about it?

new ideas

Even though I have lengthy lists of to-felt items in my notebook/computer/miscellaneous scraps of paper littered on my desk, it's not that often I take the plunge to make something daring. Is it the frugal part in me that dreads wasting precious art materials? Is the self-conscious part in me that fears the outcome? That the finished item may not turn out to be what I had envisioned? What does this say about me? That's I'm a nervous wreck, that I'm a perfectionist, that I'm normal? I've always kept other people's opinions and possible reactions in the back of my mind whenever I did something artistic, and it's only recently (a few years) that I've been consciously trying to break that habit. It's harder than it sounds, but I feel like I'm a good way ahead.
Today was one such day. I made two of my largest felted items to date, and I don't think I'll stop there.

My words to you; Shake it off, and take the plunge.

Signing off....

'smore

New pebbles! I know, I know, I have a problem, but it's just so hard to stop! Now in the shoppe!

three's

Now in the shop!

tree folk

I've been quite liking this view of the tree folk. It almost makes me feel like I'm in a helicopter overlooking the pine forests somewhere in British Columbia. Silly, I know.

I've got three sets of tree folk going up in Etsy soon. They still to be properly photographed, which I'm hoping to do today. I used the new shipment of natural rovings from Germany for this project. Shades of brown, caramel, chocolate, tan, off-white, which sounds almost as delicious as they look. It'll be a toughie combining these. All the colors complement each other so well.

good friday

I love Fridays like these. Warm Fridays. Productive Fridays. Ideas of felted sculptures have been sloshing around in my mind for weeks now. I made a few sketches here and there in my notebook, but nothing concrete had come of it. The rational side of me usually takes a moment or two to think about the project and any how-to's. There is nothing more discouraging than a new project that doesn't want to co-operate.


So today was a good day, a good Friday. Those felted sculptures from my moleskine actually took shape. Into little forms I've fondly started called tree folk. They're sweet and small, and already very dear to me. I hardly make any felted crafts for myself, but I do intend on making a little family of these for my living room sidetable. They were felted around a pebble which rests at the base of the sculpture, and I already foresee myself lifting and placing these beauties in different spots of my home whenever the moment seizes me. Their little tufts make them very mobile.

They'll be in the shop soon. First I'll need to iron....or should I say needlefelt, out the bumps.

Happy Weekend All!!

crimson drop

A newly finished necklace now for sale.

pebbles

To this day, the felted pebbles are still one of my very favorite things to make. There's something about the individuality of each piece that appeals to me. The way the white lines tend to shift while felting, merging itself with the colored felt, like they have a mind of their own. The way the layers of felt curve and hug the edges of the stone, making them smooth and inviting to hold. The way the felt covers, but doesn't conceal, the nature of the hard rock inside. They have been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for me.



So won't you join me on this new endeavour?...a new shop! Dedicated only to the felted pebbles. Focusing simply on color and form.

(I'll be adding more items as I make them...I just couldn't wait to get it up and running.)

shout out

I just added two new links to my sidebar at right, highlighting the locations where you can see my artwork in the flesh! I'm kicking myself for not putting it up sooner.


The first being One restaurant, a fabulous new hotspot in Roermond, Limburg, Netherlands. Owned by Edwin Soumang and Bethany Delong, they serve up creative, innovative, and not to mention sublimely delicious food in a sophisticated, yet unpretentious atmosphere. And I'm not just saying that 'cause I like them. A few of my paintings adorn their walls, and my photographs adorn their website.

And if this wasn't the icing on the cake, well I don't know what is; the May 2008 edition of delicious magazine featured One restaurant as well as some of my photographs of their interior and food. Well slap me hard and call me Sally! You could imagine my ecstatic surprise when I was flipping through the mag and saw that!





One Restaurant
Raadhuisstraat 1
6042 jk Roermond
t +31 (0) 475 600 262




The second being 14 feet. An uberhip indie store specializing in (refurbished and reclaimed) design furniture and handmade artsy goods. Situated in Healdsburg California (now I have a reason to visit the west coast of the U.S. of A.) They have a stock of my felted goodies. You'll find my pebbles, necklaces and bowls there.

14 feet
325 Center Street
Healdsburg, CA 95448
ph: 707.433.3391



Get thee to their websites and chcheck it out!

felt +

Metal. Chain. Wood. Glass. Ceramic.

Good things come in small packages. Today my mini-shipment of beads, clasps, chains, and string arrived. I've got some special felted beads ready and waiting to be strung, but most the designs are still floating around in my head. My favorite of the batch; the smooth palmwood beads (the pretty dark brown ones in the foreground.)

cloud cover

What do you do when life throws you a curveball? The week so far has had more downs than ups. And these gray skies aren't helping one bit. I'm hoping this weekend will be able to salvage whatever good there was this week, or at least make up for it. On the itinerary: roadtrip and a casual dinner with a good friend. And maybe a cocktail or two.

Getting out in the garden always has a quiet way of brightening my spirits.

consider it embellished

Remember those plain boring bowls that were waiting to be decorated? Well, here's the blue one. Needlefelted and stitched just like I promised. They almost remind me of amoeba.



Currently in the shop.